Company Memo
by Flame of Corruption
Summary: This is a story of love, war, and a man's paper trail. [FE:Blazing Sword]
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem and any other things that the readers might recognize it as a copy righted or trade marked item.

* * *

COMPANY MEMO

The job of a tactician entails much more than devising of battle plans. A tactician must control logistics and manage human resources. That means he must keep an eye on the supply flow while making sure his army doesn't go bankrupt. As for taking care of those under his command, a tactician should always monitor his soldiers' well being, promote growth of their skills, and give general – sometimes even personal – advices for those who seek help. Aside from these, there are always ongoing chores of analyzing intelligence and recording progress, not to mention throwing occasional office parties.

A tactician's word holds an army together. And that makes him a very busy man.

To cope with this situation, the tactician of Eliwood's army uses memos to rely his instruction or anything that requires people's attention. Tactician Asran – 21 years old, male, unknown nationality, a brilliant mind with many signs of stupidity, enjoys counting money and sewing – has seemingly unlimited amount of small yellow parchment papers within the hardcover bound of his favorite book, 'On War' by Clausewitz. When the matters cannot be attended personally, he simply writes it down on the paper instead. Over the course of journey, it has gained a loving name of 'Company memo'.

This is a story of love, war, and a man's paper trail.


	2. Battle Monk of St Elimine

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem and any other things that the readers might recognize it as a copy righted or trade marked item.

* * *

COMPANY MEMO 

Chapter 1: The Battle Monk of St. Elimine

* * *

Every time the troops made a stop in a populated area, Lucius visits local St.Elimine chapter to pray. He would gladly take Sister Serra along as well if she wasn't always so busy tending the wounded and the captives (?). Most of the time, she just tells him to give them her best regard and sends him off (sometimes with shopping list). Today wasn't much different from any other days. Eliwood's army stopped at a small town for supplies and decided to stay at an inn near the outskirt of the town for night. After moving into the room where he and Raven will be staying, Lucius left the inn. Each day holds wonders for this pious monk, but today something particularly more wondrous was waiting for him at the church.

* * *

"Who would have thought that we were to receive such blessing from Saint Elimine? I will have to ask Sister Serra for a special prayer tonight." 

Lucius smiled as he walked back toward the inn with two parcels in his arms. An hour earlier when he was praying at the sanctuary, he was approached by Archbishop Yodel. The Archbishop explained to the bewildered Lucius that the order has been called upon by St.Elimine herself. She spoke of great calamity, and 'to stop the rise of thousand despairs', she commanded the order to aid two clerics of the Lycian army with holy relics. After entrusting Lucius with his charge, Yodel gave Lucius words of encouragement and left.

Already running late for the supper, the young monk made haste toward his room. Once there, Lucius placed the parcels on a bed. The larger and heavier one was dictated to Lucius and the tubular one was to be given to Serra (Lucius wondered why did Yodel shudder at the mention of her name). He stopped to think whether he should deliver hers after dinner, but decided against it. Meanwhile, he removed the wrapping on his so he could tell the tactician what it was.

He stared.

What he uncovered was a richly decorated reliquary box. It was made of a scented wood of light color and the elaborate carvings of religious importance adorned its surface. On the lid, there was an inscription which read as: ILLUMINATED ROBE OF RADIANCE.

Lucius kneeled beside the bed. "The Robe of …... Radiance…… O, One of ……. our ten strongest relics….. Truly…" He felt his mouth getting dry. It took a considerable effort to calm his heart full of fear and joy. Finally, he stood up.

"I, I must wear this at once. People must know the importance and the blessings upon our mission that St.Elimine has entrusted!" With this, Lucius opened the lid.

The robe wasn't quiet what he had expected. It was a tight sleeveless blue robe with a white horizontal stripe on it. The robe was cut low around hip line and a black short pants complemented it. It had a white shoulder guard that covered chest area and neck, held in position by a cute little yellow ribbon. Several other items came as a set. The headgear had a long, blue hair cover that extends all the way down the back like a mantle. There were also small blue boots with white front guard and black gloves with white cuffs. All these items seemed to be reinforced with silver. Lastly, there was a large black body ring that apparently to be slung to the waist. Overall, this was the skimpiest clothes Lucius ever put on himself in his entire life. It this game wasn't Fire Emblem, other tacticians would have said that he looks like Bridget from Guilty Gear and had a good laugh. Lucius wasn't sure how he should react. He was horribly aware that this robe makes him look much more like a girl - and to make the matter worse, **_prettier_** – but he was afraid of being impious. Not knowing what to do, he sagged in defeat. It was this state of confusion that caught him off guard when he heard Raven's voice outside the door.

"Lucius, are you in there? What is taking so long!"

* * *

Of course, Raven knew of Lucius's habit. That's why he spent some time sitting inside of a tavern attached to the inn, quietly listening to conversations around him. Now the dinner has started at the outside courtyard but the young monk was yet to be seen. Raven was getting rather hungry and therefore annoyed. He COULD go ahead and eat, but that means he would have to risk Wil or Bartre talking to him – and they will never let him eat peacefully… So Raven was compelled to go around and find his friend, wherever the hell he was. He decided to check their room first and went upstairs. In his impatience, Raven didn't bother to knock and pushed open the door. 

There, he saw stunned Lucius wearing actual women's clothes, with his head turning toward the door in a mixed expression of surprise and terror.

In this kind of situation, many will speculate that Raven won't even flinch, maybe look slightly flustered, or slam shut the door and forget what he saw. However, over the course of his battered life Raven found out a lot of messed up things through the open doors. Those were the times when he heard his sister got shipped to Etruria, saw his parents dead, came face-to-face with a roomful of flamboyant pirates all with swordreavers, finding Mattew and Guy in a compromising position inside their tent when he went there to warn the Sacaean to stay away from Priscilla (later they frantically told him it wasn't anything like that but the damage was already done), and of many unpleasant events which can't possibly be good for a man's health. Then, after all the traumas, he sees this. His repressed and accumulated shock took advantage of his total surprise and overwhelmed Raven in full force. His entire body just shut down and his consciousness faded away. The last thing he heard as his body fell backward was Lucius calling his name.

* * *

"Lord Raymond! Please, open your eyes!" 

Raven was vaguely aware of Lucius's panicked voice. He opened his eyes but they refused to focus. _What happened?_ _Why am I on the floor? Did I actually pass out? And why are these little Priscilla pocking me with Mend staff?_

"Ugh…" Raven sit up and put a hand over his eyes until he felt better.

"Lord Raymond, are you alright?

"Yeah, I think so." Raven turned to Lucius who was currently sitting next to him. "For a moment, I thought—GHAAAAAH"!" Raven flatted himself against the corridor wall.

Lucius was nearly on the verge of crying. "Please, Lord Raymond… Don't say anything."

"Lucius, what is going on? Should I be worried?"

The young monk sighed. "My lord, what I am wearing right now is the Robe of Radiance, one of my order's holy relics. I know it may hamper my looks – "

"You look like a woman. Worse than usual, I mean."

" – but the order presented me with this, so I must wear it and be proud." Lucius was sincere but he couldn't completely erase his disdain.

Raven grimaced. "You do realize that I won't be the only one saying this?"

"That's what I'm afraid of, Lord Raymond." said Lucius gloomily.

"I can't deal with this in empty stomach. I need to eat…"

* * *

The inn was generous enough to provide a separate dining area for troops. Walls of the inn contained a small courtyard with four large trees shading each corners. After setting up the make-shift tables that the army carried with, the place became a bit cozier. It took some work, but the knight corps of Pharae and Caelin were happy to oblige (Lowen didn't stop there, though. After the swift work of moving tables and benches, he headed straight toward the kitchen and insisted on helping the cooks, much to Marcus and Harken's dismay). 

Warm glow of torches lit up the early evening night. Foods have been served and everyone was enjoying today's meal – Arapen style meatloaf with white bread slices, together with creamy vegetable soup. Well, _mostly_ everybody. Erk looked at the far away table where his teacher was seated. Smiling Louise was sitting next to her husband, as always. Lord Pent always loved to talk about magic and at the moment he was engaged in a conversation with Canas regarding the energy dynamics of Anima and Elder magic. Nino didn't seem to understand it entirely, but her eagerness to listen made even Lady Priscilla to smile. How much he wished to be there! He was a mage - that table full of magic users was where he belongs!

Only if it wasn't for that pink-haired demon… Serra followed him everywhere. He couldn't bear the thought of letting Lord Pent or anybody else to listen Serra's ranting because of him. That's why he was sitting in a mostly Ostian table with Serra, Mattew, Oswin, and Florina, being unobtrusive and sad. If he had a choice of sitting by either Jaffar or Serra, he would take Jaffar's side any day. Jaffar was sitting right next to Nino in same table and one good thing about Angel-of-Death Jaffar was that he never, ever talks! To Erk, the place seemed like a distant paradise he could never reach although it was only three yards away.

Right now, the purple haired mage was drowning his sorrow in ale, with a grim hope that if he looked at the drink intently enough then the alcohol proof might go up. At the said magic users' table, Canas – blissfully ignorant of Erk's misery – was in middle of questioning a common misconception. He abruptly stopped in mid sentence and blinked. All of the sudden, Canas looked dazed and his face became visibly pale.

Alarmed Pent leaned over to Canas. "Canas, are you well?"

"I ---" The man crumbled sideways and collapsed onto the ground. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the fallen shaman.

Nino, who failed to catch Canas as he fell, came rushing to him. "Ah! Mr. Canas, are you hurt? Can you get up? Do you need help?"

Canas shook slightly, and then answered her with a helpless smile on his face. "Oh, my… I'm sorry to worry you, Nino. But I feel … very weak. Ahaha, I wonder why…" said Canas in labored breath.

"How bad?" said Pent.

"It feels as if I have been struck with the light magic Divine."

Pent winced. "Let us find out what is ailing you, my friend. I think we should make you bit more comfortable first. Louise!"

While all this excitement was going on, two people were watching the scene from the safety of conveniently placed shrubbery bushes at the threshold of the courtyard.

"Alright, I don't know why but people are looking the other way. Lucius, we're going to take a detour to the side for that table over there. You just sit down, I'll get the food." said Raven, trying to think of the best course of action.

"But, Lord Raymond! I'm not supposed to hide!" protested Lucius.

Raven snapped back. "Look, somebody is bound to make a comment. I'm far too tired to deal with it and so are you. So let it slides for today."

The robe was causing Lucius to glow, so Raven had to stay in front to keep him away from the view. Together they slowly edged toward the table where Karel and Karla sat. It was located in a deep inner corner and nobody ever gave Karel the second glance. Thankfully, everybody was preoccupied with something. Neither of them knew that at this very moment Canas's condtion got worse and he was gasping for air. The two had nearly gotten past the gathering of people and almost made to the table when Raven heard the sound of a twig break under his step. He silently swore. _Damn_. Archers typically have good hearings as well as good eyesight, and as if to prove this point Rebecca and Wil immediately turned around in response.

"Oh, hi Sir Raven! And… umm…" said Rebecca awkwardly, with her wide eyes on Lucius. Wil had his jaw dropped. One by one, people started to follow the archers' gaze and then the place went very, very quiet. Even Raven the coldfire started to break sweat under the pressure.

"Uh, my lord, do you think they can see me?"

"Oh good god, even Karel is looking at you."

" … Good evening, everyone." Lucius walked out into the scrutinizing crowd.

As a man of the sea, Dart spoke his mind. "I knew it…" Prisiclla's cup cracked under her grip. However, this revelation had no impact on Bartre because it never occurred to him that Lucius was a man.

After a few embarrassed coughs all around, Asran the tactician asked Lucius. "Brother Lucius, could you kindly explain WHAT are you wearing and WHY are you wearing it?"

"It is called 'Robe of Radiance', Lord Asran, one of the strongest holy relics of St.Elimine order. I was approached by an archbishop earlier today and presented with this. It is said that the presence and the touch of its wearer can vanquish darkness."

"Really? Interesting…" said Asran, rubbing his chin. "Well, that certainly explains why Mr. Canas started to curl up and nearly died. I guess the darkness here implies Dark magic."

"It's…. Elder magic…" added Canas.

Serra's shrill voice was heard as she rose from her seat. "Whaaat? The church gave you something and not me!" She came straight toward the poor monk and Lucius was put under her scrutiny. Within few seconds of the inspection, her initial furious expression became mischievous smile.

"Oh, Brother Lucius, you don't have to wear it if you feel uncomfortable! Say, will you let me have it instead? It will look sooo much better on me!"

Raven thought about this. "Actually, that is not a bad idea…"

Erk was there within a second. He said to Lucius, "If you give that to Serra, I swear I'll kill you."

"Back down, boy. This doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't concern me! I'm the one who's gonna get it when she tries to pull"- Erk quoted with fingers – "feminine wiles." Erk shuddered.

"You should be grateful that a girl pays attention to you."

"Says you. She's not on YOUR back."

Explosive tension between glaring mercenary and furious mage rose to the point where they started fingering their respective primary weapons. Since his words couldn't reach either of them, Lucius gave a moment of thought about the given choice. The idea of giving the robe to Sister Serra was certainly attractive, but he had to consider Erk's feeling, especially when the mage was protesting violently. He looked at beaming Serra and then Erk, who shook his Elfire tome angrily at the direction of the monk. Lucius relented.

"No, Sister Serra, I don't think I can do that after all… But, but! You did receive a relic as well. Here you go." Lucius said hurriedly and produced the relic in front of Serra.

"Really? Gimme, gimme! Oh, thank you Saint Elimine!" Serra sat down on a nearby bench and put the tubular parcel on her lap. She removed the wrapping at once and got more excited at the sight of delicately carved reliquary box. Serra opened it and took out a beautiful ornate white scepter that shined like moonlight.

"Oh, wow. What is this? Ok, let see… 'PURE STAFF OF CHASTITY'?" said Serra as she read the title on the box.

"Amazing, Sister Serra! You also have received a relic as strong as this robe! Let us thank Saint Elimine for her grace…"

Asran's appraising eyes scanned the staff. "Hmmm, infinite Mend. Nice."

"What?" said Hector.

"It's a tactician talk. Pay no mind."

Serra was clueless. "Um, Lucius, what does this thing do?"

"Eh? You never heard of 'Staff of Chastity'? Well, it is a holy relic that reputed to cleanse spirits and grant a protection from unjust thoughts. It has great healing capacity and your enemy won't be able to harm you in any ways with this in your possession."

"What do you mean, 'in any ways'?"

"Allow me to demonstrate." Lucius looked around to find a certain cavalier. "Sir Sain?"

"Umm, um, yes?" The cavalier was startled. He was in middle of silently chanting 'that's not a girl, that's not a girl… '

"I need your assistance. Could you stand here, right next to Sister Serra?"

Sain was visibly recoiling from Lucius's current state. But he was, nevertheless, a cavalier. He decided to bite the bullet. "Sure…" As he slowly walked over, he kept looking back toward Kent, who was in bit of confused state himself but urged Sain to go on. However once he stood where Lucius asked him to – about 5 feet away from where Serra was standing, his foolhardiness prevailed and he relaxed. Until he heard…

"Saint Elimine, please forgive me for what I am about to do…" With that, Lucius pushed Sain into Serra.

As Sain fell forward, he instinctively reached out for Serra to balance himself. But that didn't happen. Before he could get a hold of her, some kind of invisible force field rammed him hard and just as Lucius smartly got out of the way, the screaming cavalier dynamically bounced and rolled like a rag doll all the way toward the opposite end until the wall stopped him cold in his path with a loud crack. He literally peeled himself off the wall after the collision and then crumbled onto the ground. Kent watched this with his mouth open.

"Are you alright, Sain!"

"Yeah, I only feel as if I just got decked by General Wallace so of course I am alright!" Sain rolled over with a groan. "Ooooooh, I think I have a concussion. Kent?"

"Yes?"

"If I die, will you bury me in a church with a lot of nuns…?" moaned Sain. Kent made a face.

With severe guilt on his face, Lucius turned to Serra. "You see, Sister Serra, when this staff senses the approach of evil intensions, it physically manifest itself to protect the wielder. As long as you have the staff, no evil will be able to touch you. So let us pray for -- Aahhhhhhh! Sister Serra, what are you doing!" Lucius stopped the Serra just in time before she could throw the staff away in a well.

Serra turned to the monk with a new found anger. "So basically what you saying is this thing repels men! I don't want anything like this!"

"What? I never said that!"

"It's implied!"

"That is not true! I'm standing right next to you and I'm fine, see?" said Lucius, trying to appease her fury.

"That doesn't mean anything, you are a monk! How am I supposed to be with my Erky with this thing pushing him away?"

Serra would have grilled the poor monk some more if they didn't stop to listen to the sound of suppressed laugher. It was coming from the Ostian table where Erk and Mattew seemed to be having a hard time controlling themselves. They were shaking and practically choking with laugher. Serra glared at them with a hint of certain death but that only made them to burst out what they've been holding back. Hector joined them, too. From the faraway table where the lords and the tactician were, Hector was laughing so hard that he was practically howling and later fell off the bench (Lyn heard 'ouch.').

"Hahahahahaha! (cough) For real!"

"Oh, the sweet irony! This is the best thing ever happen to me in three month!"

"You know, there are so many people in Ostia who would pay to see this…?

"Mattew, shut up and keep laughing!"

"Yes, my lord. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Lord Pent, look at Erk. He's laughing."

"Aye, it is heartening to see him smile.

"I wish we had a portrait artist in ready.

"That's it! I'm throwing this away!

"Nooo, for love of Saint Elimine, don't do it!"

"Yeah, Serra, keep it. It's good for you." said two Ostians and an Etrurian, said like they mean it in a totally unconvincing tone.

"I hate you all!"

_

* * *

Dear Brother Lucius:_

_I, for one, certainly do appreciate the kind gesture and blessing of Saint Elimine Order. However, it came to my attention that the robe causes some unforeseen problems. You see, the robe makes you look rather stunning. Many men in the camp are becoming very… confused and insecure about themselves. Especially Sain. He's keep hitting his head against a wall repeatedly to the point that Kent asked for mediation. Meanwhile, their fairer counterparts are also mopping around because of your beauty that transcends gender. To be honest, only Lady Karla and Ninian are prettier than you. The rest, well… Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that it really hurts the morale._

_There is another problem. Mr. Canas is keep kneeling over. Although it gives me an immense satisfaction to see all those pesky enemy shamans to drop dead from a distance only a barista would hit, I can't have my favorite one and only shaman hit the ground like a lead. He is making a very valiant effort to resist, but no avail. The robe is just way too holy._

_So Brother Lucius, I ask you to stop wearing the robe temporarily. Save it till we meet Nergal. If anyone asks, tell them it was the tactician's request._

_P.S Personally, I can't wait to see Nergal chocking._

* * *

After finish reading the letter, Lucius praised the wisdom and mercy of St. Elimine. 

Certain number of men in the army found themselves relieved and yet strangely disappointed. This will haunt them for some time to come.

"I'm just glad it's over."

"Me, too, Lord Raymond.

Raven and Lucius was taking a quick break after dispatching several brigands in a meadow in front of a forest near the camp.

"Still, I gotta admit, seeing people's reaction to you was amusing enough." Raven let out a chuckle.

"That's not very nice, Lord Raymond. I beg you, please forget about this incident."

Raven gave it some thought.

"Hmmm…. I don't think so, Lucius. No, I would never be able to erase this episode of my life from my memory until the day I die."

"Ah! That's unfair! Wait, where you… Come back here, Lord Raymond! I'm not done with talking! Lord Raymond!

-Fin-

* * *

Thank you for reading. Suggestions are always welcome. 

I love Raven, Lucius, Priscilla as a family. They remind me of 'Scrapped Princess' party.

Just in case you haven't got the idea, this story is about the memo that the tactician Asran writes and why it had to be written. It takes place in FE:Blazing Sword, in ramdom time order. However, it will have some reference of those adorable idiots in Magvel (FE:SS).

NEXT: 'Tickle me Nino'.


End file.
